Large oil field uses metal RFID tags to track mobile pole transformers

According to news on September 16, 2014, a large oil field in eastern China uses RFID metal tags to track the movable pole transformers used in its onshore oil extraction. This Asset MANAGEMENT solution based on passive RFID technology targets more than 30,000 transformer equipment in the oil field. It is believed to be the largest outdoor asset RFID management project in China's oil and gas industry. The giant oil field also plans to install tags on other assets such as pipelines and valves in the future.

This automated asset inspection and maintenance system was jointly developed by Shandong Shengruan Technology Co., Ltd. and ifast. The solution uses ifast Trak series Cargo tags, which are installed on the transformer through high-strength special epoxy glue and become a permanent identification of the equipment. The oil field needs to upgrade its current asset management model to better adapt to the recently introduced industry standards. Transformers are live equipment at high places and need to be moved frequently, so ordinary barcode recognition is not suitable. According to the petroleum industry safety production industry standards issued by the State Administration of Work Safety in early 2013, refining and chemical companies are required to establish complete and accurate asset maintenance and inspection Files to ensure the company's safe production and long-term operation.

With handheld tag readers and tablet devices, asset managers can read asset information by targeting tags within a range of 12 meters from the transformer. Cargo's long-distance reading and writing performance has become one of the key factors in the implementation of the entire project. Transformers are usually installed at high places and are live, making it dangerous for staff to climb up and get close to the equipment. The oil field has always wanted to use RFID technology to replace the existing barcode scanning method, but it needs to find an RFID tag that is durable in the dangerous environment of the oil field and can read and write over a long distance.

ifast founder and CEO Dennis Khoo said, "This project fully demonstrates the advantages of RFID in improving asset management efficiency and safety. We have many customers from industries with extremely dangerous operating environments such as oil fields and nuclear energy. RFID has become an important part of these special environments." An irreplaceable technology that realizes intelligent asset management.”

Xu Haiting, manager of the petroleum technology development department of Shengruan Technology, said: "By using electronic tags to identify physical outdoor assets, we solve the problem that barcode marking methods are easy to damage and lose. Cargo is a very good tag that is durable and easy to read. The distance is long, the installation is easy, and the appearance is eye-catching, making it ideal for use in the oil field.”

Cargo complies with EPCglobal® Gen 2 and ISO 18000-6C international standards. It has the characteristics of being able to read both metal and non-metal surfaces, and has an ultra-long reading distance of 12 meters. Its IP68 environmental rating ensures that the label's performance is not affected by liquids, dust and other substances, and the label can be read normally in the temperature range of -40°C to +85°C.